44 pages • 1 hour read
AviThe Man Who Was Poe
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1989A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Social Class, Image, and Reputation in the 19th Century
Avi uses social status as a characterization tool for many characters. Though he does not disclose what Edmund’s family’s social status was in London, his mother lost all her money to Rachett, Pru can only afford a sparse room in Providence, and Edmund is perceived to be a dirty, begging boy. The assumptions the tailor and Catherine make about him are humiliating; they judge his character unfairly based purely on his outward appearance.
Dupin/Poe is first described as a homeless and impoverished writer. He is so desperate for money that he considers sleeping in the church, but agrees to help Edmund in exchange for a place to sleep. He spends the little money he has on alcohol, and his addiction costs him a good reputation in the eyes of Mrs. Powers and Helen. Mrs. Powers believes Poe to be “an irresponsible drunkard with not a shred of decency” (70), which complicates the reverence many hold for Poe as a respected writer. Helen is infatuated with Poe and even considers him to be “a genius” and “the most passionate [and] romantic of men” (64). Nevertheless, she weighs this against the risk of scandal and harm to her upper-class reputation. Poe’s complexity shows that people can have “two sides,” as he suggests at the tea party—a person’s character cannot and should not be based solely on their social status or the way they present themselves.
This is particularly true of Rachett’s character, who epitomizes how problematic this adherence to class division is: he is so concerned with creating a rich, “gentlemanly” life for himself that he is willing to murder his wife and her children to achieve this—“anything to have the world think him a proper gentleman!” (166). Ironically, Mrs. Powers deems him to be an acceptable suitor for her daughter, judging solely on the false persona he created for himself, proving just how little bearing one’s outer image has on their true nature.
The catalyst for the entire novel—Edmund’s mother’s desire for a divorce—is rooted in social expectations and rules: she was forced to travel to American to divorce Rachett because divorce was still considered unacceptable in England. This heightened awareness and concern with social status is factual for the 1800s; during the Victorian Era, though the United States was a place of technological and eventually social advancements, wealth and class hierarchies still dictated behavior and relationships.
Overcoming Fears on the Road Toward Maturity
The Man Who was Poe’s plot has elements of “overcoming the monster” of fear. Edmund, with the help of Dupin, must overcome the treacherous Rachett and Peterson to save his family. At only 11, Edmund, though terrified, immediately searches for help when Sis goes missing and continues to do everything Poe asks of him for the sake of rescuing his mother and sister. Although he has moments where he is “consumed by sudden hopelessness,” Edmund quickly recovers and finds the strength to continue. Even with Dupin constantly willing Sis to die for the sake of his story, Edmund remains relentless in his quest to save her. His independence grows over the course of the novel, and his bravest act involves setting out to find his mother and sister alone; Dupin’s unreliability pushes Edmund to overcome his fear of acting without an adult.
Though Rachett and Peterson are the primary “monster[s],” the characters must face and overcome other fears. Dupin, in stark contrast to Edmund, is depicted as a frightened character, reluctant to face his fears and torments while relying on alcohol to cope. At Mrs. Powers’s tea party, Poe explains to the guests that “Evil is only the name we give...our secret fears [...] in our hearts” (116). Poe is known for writing about death and dark subjects, and his character frequently experiences fearful visions and thoughts relating to death. The guests at the tea party initially seem like “a gathering of demons, a masque of black death” to Poe (115), but when he realizes that these images represent his own torments and pain—fear of judgments as a writer and as Helen’s suitor—he finds the strength to overcome them for the sake of his future with Helen (116).
Also vying for Helen’s hand and Mrs. Powers’ approval is Rachett, whose fear of scandal and a sullied reputation drive him to horrific ends. Though his life is not immediately at risk, he risks the death of his reputation and image as the established William Arnold. He refuses to face this fear and instead flees from it, which ultimately costs him his life.
Though written in 1989, Avi imitates the Gothic style of Poe’s own writing, which often included themes of terror, death, and romance. The novel’s theme of overcoming terrifying fears, especially as they are linked to literal and metaphorical death, are crucial in establishing the story’s Gothic atmosphere.
An Artist’s Obsession With Their Work
Avi’s interpretation of Poe is quintessentially Gothic: his visions, overwrought emotions, and battles against his own inner darkness are all characteristic of this style’s atmosphere. The Man Who was Poe draws upon true details and events in Poe’s life, even if the ordeal with Edmund is fictional. The real Poe struggled with addiction, and as one of the first American writers to make a living exclusively from writing, often experienced financial instability and poverty. Exacerbated by alcoholism, his mental health deteriorated following the death of his wife, and he was unable to salvage his relationship with Sarah Helen Whitman (200).
Avi extrapolates on these facts, creating a character who is selfish, disheveled, erratic, and unpredictable. Poe’s obsession with “the story,” which overtakes everything he does, is a crucial Gothic element of the book. According to Snodgrass, obsession is a "motivator of the Gothic novel;” acting as a “controlling form of aberrant behavior in characters.” Poe’s obsession with his writing drives his illogical actions and the narrative in general.
Poe’s hallucinations, alcoholism, fixation on death, and relentless dedication to getting “the story” exemplify the trope of “the tortured artist”—a creator whose mental illness is inextricable from their brilliance. Snodgrass identifies “insanity” as “a pivotal theme in Gothic literature,” in that it often afflicts the main characters. Poe himself believes he is going “mad” when he sees Edmund’s mother in the cemetery but remains convinced that he “[works] better with drink” (142), though he knows it “[deflects] him, [confuses] him” (71). Even Helen, whose relationship to Poe hinges on his sobriety, still believes he is a “genius” (64).
Avi does not explicitly romanticize or glorify this fictional Poe’s challenges with poverty, mental health, and addiction; in fact, he depicts Poe as a writer so deeply obsessed with finding a new story that it negatively affects his relationships with other characters. However, the trope of the tortured artist is inherently problematic in that it suggests talented artists are unable to create incredible work without their mental health issues, and that dedication to their craft must take the form of an all-consuming obsession.
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